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Vassiliev (Eug. M.). HoBbiti BpeAmenb BbicafiKOBT, caxapHOM CBBKno- 

 Biiubi m31j KySaHCKOM oOnacTM m flpyrie BpeflmenM. [A new pest 

 of transplanted sugar-beet from the province of Kuban {Podonta 

 nigrila Fb.) and other pests.] — Report by the Entomolocjist of the 

 Experimental Myco-Entomolofiical Station of the All-Russian 

 Society of Sugar-Refiners in Smiela, govt, of Kiev. « B'bCTHMK'b 

 CaxapHOpi npOMblLUneHHOCTM.» [Herald of the Sugar-Industry,] 

 Kiev, nos. -41 and 43 ; 25th October and 8th November 1914 ; 

 pp. 366-370 and 425-429, 1 fig. 



The author, in July last, visited the beet plantations of the province 

 of Kuban, which cover an area of over 9,500 acres. The cultivation 

 of sugar-beet had been first introduced into the province only two 

 years previously. Wheat, maize and sunflower are the principal 

 crops cultivated in this province. Many harmful insects occur, 

 including various species of Carabidae, among which Zabnis tene- 

 brioides, Goeze, and Pardileus calceatus, Duft., are specially mentioned. 

 Elaterid larvae occur in great numbers, especially on plots which have 

 been uncultivated for some time. Deep ploughing in autumn and 

 other mechanical treatment of the soil is suggested as a means of 

 decreasing the numbers of this pest. The larvae of species of Melo- 

 lontha can only find a scanty food supply in the few orchards and on 

 willows, and present a less serious problem than in localities with many 

 forests and orchards . Against the caterpillars of Phlyctaenodes sticticalis, 

 L., spraying with 2 per cent, barium chloride proved quite efficient, 

 whereas in other parts of Russia a strength of 5-8 per cent, 

 is usually required, even this strength being insufficient in some 

 cases, as in one locality of the government of Charkov, where 

 good results were obtained only with a solution of a strength of 10-12 per 

 cent. These conflicting results may be due to differences in the tempera- 

 ture and the amount of moisture in the atmosphere at the time of the 

 spraying. It is already recognised that the effect of barium chloride 

 upon Bothynoderes punctiventris. Germ., is the greater, the higher the 

 temperature and the clearer the sky ; probably its effects on the cater- 

 pillars of P. sticticalis may depend on the same conditions. Pospielov 

 [see this Review, Ser. A, ii, p. 177] has stated that in hot and dry 

 weather the weak action of barium chloride is compensated for by 

 the paralysing effect of the sun's rays on the beetles of Bothynoderes 

 punctiventris, and has pointed out that the question of the paralysis 

 produced by the sun's rays requires further investigation, as it cannot 

 be limited only to the above beetles and is at variance with the 

 fact that in hot weather most pests, including both those above 

 mentioned, show an increased feeding rate and thus devour a greater 

 amount of poison. The different effect obtained by various solutions 

 of barium chloride may depend also upon the composition of the 

 water used, as water containing sulphates and carbonates decreases 

 the effect of this insecticide by transforming it into barium sulphate 

 and carbonate, of which the former is not poisonous, and the effect of 

 the latter is slower than that of barium chloride. The multiplication 

 of this pest in the province is favoured by the abundance of weeds, 

 on which it oviposits and the neglect of remedial measures. Lixus 

 ascanii, L., was found in the egg stage on Amaranthus retroHexus, from 

 which the larvae pass into the stalks of beetroots. These weeds should 



